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  • Baroness Burt of Solihull – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Burt of Solihull – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total value of the retail sector to the UK economy in each of the last 10 years, and what estimate they have made of its value over the next 10 years.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The amount of Gross Value Added by the retail sector in each of the last ten years and the proportion of total UK GVA is given in the table below:

    Year

    Gross Value Added (£m)

    % of UK Total

    2006

    71,137

    5.6%

    2007

    74,521

    5.6%

    2008

    76,811

    5.6%

    2009

    76,117

    5.6%

    2010

    79,763

    5.7%

    2011

    80,366

    5.6%

    2012

    84,340

    5.7%

    2013

    87,065

    5.6%

    2014

    89,833

    5.6%

    2015

    91,738

    5.6%

    Source: National Accounts Low-Level aggregates (ONS)

    Her Majesty’s Government has not made forecasts of the future value of the retail sector.

  • Lord Birt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Birt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to match national and local capacity with demand for maternity services, and when they expect a balance to be achieved.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Maternity services are included in the key objectives set out in the Mandate between the Government and the NHS England. The Mandate states that women should receive better care during pregnancy and have a named midwife responsible for ensuring personalised, one-to-one care.

    In its report Better Births: Improving Outcomes of maternity services in England, the National Maternity Review (which was sponsored by NHS England) set out a vision for future models of maternity services which provide safe, personalised, kind, professional and family friendly care. It recommends that providers and commissioners should come together as “local maternity systems” and develop a local vision for improved maternity services based on the principles contained within the report. A copy of Better Births is attached.

    Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will now be expected to consider the conclusions of Better Births and what changes they may need to make to local services in light of those conclusions. CCGs are expected to understand local demand for maternity services, including listening to what women in their communities want, and consider their health needs in designing services. This should also be reflected in the development of five year Sustainability and Transformation Plans which cover wider geographical ‘footprints’.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government who was responsible for the maintenance of the access ramps to the mezzanine deck on the St Helen ferry at Fishbourne, Isle of Wight, which collapsed on 18 July 2014 causing several injuries; whether any prosecutions are planned; and who would be responsible for any resulting prosecutions.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Maintenance of all parts of a vessel is the responsibility of the ship owner or operator.

    The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) examines significant breaches of safety and environmental aspects of Merchant Shipping legislation to determine what action is appropriate, which may include prosecution.

    The MCA is considering the circumstances of this particular incident in light of the Marine Accident Investigation Branch’s report.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans HS2 has for using secondary aggregates for the construction of Phase 1.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    As part of our overall sustainability policy for HS2, we plan to use both secondary and re-cycled aggregates in structures which are designed with concrete. Their use, along with the types of concrete to be used, will be dependent on the specific design characteristics of individual HS2 structures and will be subject to the detailed design process in due course. The design process will also take into account other important sustainable factors such as material availability and logistics.

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) GPs, and (2) GP practices, there were in Brighton and Hove in each year since 2010.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The information is shown in the following table.

    Total general practitioners (GPs) and GP Practices in Brighton and Hove City Primary Care Trust (PCT) and NHS Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG):

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    Brighton and Hove City PCT

    Total GP Practices

    48

    48

    47

    Total GPs excluding locums

    177

    184

    182

    Total GPs excluding retainers, registrars and locums

    161

    169

    170

    NHS Brighton and Hove CCG

    Total GP Practices

    46

    45

    44

    Total GPs excluding locums

    177

    180

    191

    Total GPs excluding retainers, registrars and locums

    172

    176

    185

    Source: The Health and Social Care Information Centre

    Notes:

    – Data as at 30 September each year.

    – NHS Workforce figures are not available by constituency. Brighton and Hove constituency was contained within and serviced by Brighton and Hove City PCT from 2009-2012 and NHS Brighton and Hove CCG from 2013 onwards. These trusts are not geographically co-terminus and thus the figures are not comparable over a time series.

    – Prior to 2015 figures are sourced from NHAIS GP Payments (Exeter) System. From 2015 figures are sourced from the workforce Minimum Dataset (wMDS) and include estimates for missing data.

    – GP Locums were collected for the first time in 2015. These have been omitted here for comparability purposes

    – Brighton and Hove was serviced by Brighton and Hove PCT 2010-2012 and NHS Brighton and Hove CCG 2013-2015

    – The Health and Social Care Information Centre no longer provides individual data for ‘GP Provider, GP Other, GP Registrar and GP Retainer’ from April 2015 onwards as the 2015 GP figures are not published with these four job roles any more.

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are guidelines in place outlining steps to be taken if main service providers of patient transport fail to deliver satisfactory services.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    It is the responsibility for individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to commission and performance manage patient transport services, in line with the national guidance Eligibility for Patient Transport Services. This guidance is attached.

    CCGs will manage performance of patient transport providers through regular monitoring performance against Key Performance Indicators and have a range of interventions to improve performance, which are available through the NHS Standard Contract.

    NHS England ultimately maintains oversight of CCG commissioning, and holds CCGs to account for their commissioning decisions. In addition, NHS Improvement has a role in ensuring that procurement, patient choice and competition operate in the best interests of patients, and to step in if anti-competitive behaviour by National Health Service commissioners or providers goes against patients’ interests.

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what, if any, variables are used to determine whether main service providers of patient transport are delivering satisfactory services.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    It is the responsibility for individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to commission and performance manage patient transport services, in line with the national guidance Eligibility for Patient Transport Services. This guidance is attached.

    CCGs will manage performance of patient transport providers through regular monitoring performance against Key Performance Indicators and have a range of interventions to improve performance, which are available through the NHS Standard Contract.

    NHS England ultimately maintains oversight of CCG commissioning, and holds CCGs to account for their commissioning decisions. In addition, NHS Improvement has a role in ensuring that procurement, patient choice and competition operate in the best interests of patients, and to step in if anti-competitive behaviour by National Health Service commissioners or providers goes against patients’ interests.

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what systems are in place to monitor main service providers’ management of patient transport.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    It is the responsibility for individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to commission and performance manage patient transport services, in line with the national guidance Eligibility for Patient Transport Services. This guidance is attached.

    CCGs will manage performance of patient transport providers through regular monitoring performance against Key Performance Indicators and have a range of interventions to improve performance, which are available through the NHS Standard Contract.

    NHS England ultimately maintains oversight of CCG commissioning, and holds CCGs to account for their commissioning decisions. In addition, NHS Improvement has a role in ensuring that procurement, patient choice and competition operate in the best interests of patients, and to step in if anti-competitive behaviour by National Health Service commissioners or providers goes against patients’ interests.

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which other companies bid to become the main service provider of patient transport in Sussex, and why the decision was made to award the contract to Coperforma over other competitors.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We are advised by NHS England that four organisations including Coperforma completed the Pre-Qualifying Questionnaire (PQQ) in order to submit their bid for the contract and of these the South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, Arriva Transport Solutions Ltd and Coperforma Ltd were assessed as passing the PQQ. An Invitation to Tender was issued to all three organisations on 3 August 2015.

    NHS England advises that Coperforma’s bid was evaluated in line with criteria published at the start of the process by a group of subject matter experts, clinicians and patient representatives and the bid was assessed as demonstrating a comprehensive response. The award of the contract to Coperforma was approved by all seven Sussex Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).

    We understand that the lead commissioner, High Weald Lewes Havens CCG, awarded Coperforma the non-emergency Patient Transport Service (PTS) contract for Sussex, which commenced on 1 April 2016. The CCG acknowledges that early performance of the new non-emergency Sussex PTS has not been acceptable.

    For this reason High Weald Lewes Havens CCG, on behalf of all seven Sussex CCGs, has begun an inquiry with an aim for a report to be available for review by June 2016 with interim progress reports.

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of Coperforma’s management of patient transport in Sussex.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We are advised by NHS England that four organisations including Coperforma completed the Pre-Qualifying Questionnaire (PQQ) in order to submit their bid for the contract and of these the South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, Arriva Transport Solutions Ltd and Coperforma Ltd were assessed as passing the PQQ. An Invitation to Tender was issued to all three organisations on 3 August 2015.

    NHS England advises that Coperforma’s bid was evaluated in line with criteria published at the start of the process by a group of subject matter experts, clinicians and patient representatives and the bid was assessed as demonstrating a comprehensive response. The award of the contract to Coperforma was approved by all seven Sussex Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).

    We understand that the lead commissioner, High Weald Lewes Havens CCG, awarded Coperforma the non-emergency Patient Transport Service (PTS) contract for Sussex, which commenced on 1 April 2016. The CCG acknowledges that early performance of the new non-emergency Sussex PTS has not been acceptable.

    For this reason High Weald Lewes Havens CCG, on behalf of all seven Sussex CCGs, has begun an inquiry with an aim for a report to be available for review by June 2016 with interim progress reports.